Asylum
by jonwatsn
Summary: It's been years since each gang broke up and left for college, but their actions left behind a series of scars that never fully healed. They all left school and got married, and now their children are in the same situations. However, the past lives of their parents have affected some more than others - putting a handful of them in a mental health clinic.
1. Prologue

I thumb the thick and browning pages of The Book. It's getting older now; at roughly seventy years it is something you might expect of a book.

The Book isn't big or small. It is a comfortable size that sits quite comfortably with its spine between your thighs and your hands softly caressing the edges of the hard back covering. It has no particular direction, or pathway that it must follow, no plot line. It exists only to exist, and for no other reason.

I smile down at the book, and a tear makes a soft _plick_ as it lands on page seventy-four of The Book. I realise I am crying but I do not notice.

I lift my heels off the ground one at a time and only by half a centimetre. The therapist glances at my boots and makes note of the movement in his book. His book is new and pale and bland. It has no character, with blue lines ruled neatly across the pages. I can see his handwriting in careless scrawlings and I see that he considers the heel movement to be a bad thing. I dismiss the action as I dismissed my crying.

He shifts in his seat and I smile at The Book again, whereupon I do notice that I am crying. The single tear has smudged the ink. I wipe it away as he begins to speak.

_Abby, would you like to tell me why you're here today?_

Abby is not my name. But I understand why people choose to call me by this rather than my full name. I think it concerns them.

_Someone suggested it and I was in no position to oppose them. So I came._

This has him thinking. He writes something down and his eyebrows press together. He is wearing a dark grey suit with mustard socks and black leather shoes. His grey hair is perfectly in place. He puts down his pen and folds his hands on top of his now closed book. _And why did they ask you to see me?_

I bite the inside of my lip. _Because I believe in something that is not real. They did not ask me, Doctor Jennings; they told me to make an appointment. They said that if I did not take immediate action that I would have to leave, and I do not want that._

He nods as though he understands, even though he doesn't. He nods towards The Book. _I see you've brought a book with you._

I smile and another tear falls on page seventy-four. _Yes. It is The Book. It is what my mother left to me. I was told to bring it. _

_Why did they ask you to bring it?_

_I was told to bring it, Doctor Jennings. Nobody has asked me anything apart from you. _

He takes a while to process this. _Why were you told?_

_My mother believed as well. The Book contains everything she ever knew, as well as her mother. All of their knowledge,_ I close The Book and pat the cover, _is in here._

_What do they believe?_

_They believed what I believe now; that there are things out there that are not human. That there is an afterlife, and that there are dark things in the world. _

_What dark things?_

I have to plan my words carefully. A wrong move can be harmful. _My mother and her mother and I believe in Heaven and Hell, and that there are angels and a God and a Devil. We believe that there are demons that roam the earth. We believe that angels pass among us, masquerading as humans. We believe in what you laugh away every Sunday morning as you see people on their way to church._

He is shaking his head and I can see the stitching of his toupee. I understand now why his hair is so perfectly in place. He removes his glasses. _Abby, you must understand that you don't have to believe everything your mom ever told you. You're allowed to have your own thoughts._

_But I have seen it for myself. I have seen the demons and the angels and the things of which they are capable. My mother and my grandmother merely believed, Doctor Jennings. I, however, know._

He looks very concerned. He reopens his book and takes out a piece of paper, handing it to me with his pen. _I would like you to fill this out, Abby. _

I take the paper and pen from him and use the table to write on. It is a referral form. I look up at him. _What is this for?_

He stands and walks behind his desk. _I'm sending you to a place where you can get better. A place where you will be safe, and we can help you._

_I do not need help. I am perfectly fine._

The sheets on his desk rustle as he starts preparing for his next appointment. _You're sick Abby. Your mother made you think that saying these things is okay, but you're obviously very sick. _

_I do not feel at all sick, I – _

_Your mind is sick, not your body._

I fill out the form and hand it to him before leaving the office with The Book grasped firmly in my hand.


	2. Daniel

Ok so to get things straight, I'm currently on season four of Skins, so there probs won't be any of the third generation characters mentioned in this _yet__. _But at the moment, I'm not allowed to add any more characters on the site, so I just want to state who the others are. There's Sid, JJ, probably Naomi and Emily, Jal, Chris, and I'm just sorting out a few other details. Whereas the main focus is on the children of the Skins characters, some of them will be making appearances, and there will be a _lot_ of references. Abaddon has no link to the original characters, however, and is a completely new person. All main characters in this fanfiction belong to me, as I created them. Hope you enjoy it! xx

Abby entered the room like she didn't give two shits that she was in an asylum. She had a sweet smile on her sweet face, acting generally friendly to everyone she passed.

I was in the recreation room with the others, like we always were every day at ten in the morning. Monika was still in her pyjamas, clinging to her cup of tea as if it were her life. Ethan was picking at a loose string on the arm of his chair. Loki was staring vacantly at the glass of the television instead of the picture as she switched channels. Gabriel was lying on the floor on his back reading a magazine. And I was on my slender little laptop, scrolling through tumblr.

We all knew there was a new person coming in, but we didn't know why they were joining us, or what they were like. We only knew a few of the things she definitely _didn't_ have. See, in Henderson's Mental Health Clinic, no one gets into a certain group by random deposit.

The way it works is that they put you in groups of up to ten people, all around the same age. Each person has a different reason for their being there, and they try to keep the girl to boy ratio as even as possible. Once you're with your group, you spend most of your time together – living on the same timetable and living in the same building. Going to group sessions and seeing the same therapist.

In our group, we've been together for a year or so. In that year, we've all bonded, so we know each other really well and don't get along with new patients. I guess we jelled too strongly.

Abby stood out like a sore thumb. We were all plain, with tan-ish skin, blond or brown hair; you know the type. And then Abby came in with her pale-as-hell skin and bright red hair. And she was smiling. I don't think it was even the hair that made Loki scream, it was the fact that Abby was smiling.

Beth rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "For god's sake Loki, it's just a girl."

Loki continued to scream, her mouth open and staring at Abby. She didn't look scared. Loki never really got scared, and if she did she never showed it. Beth continued to look at her and finally she went back to the TV.

Beth was our nurse. Each group gets a nurse, but they're more like caretakers really. They make sure everyone's in the right place, that we're not getting a cold, that we're warm enough, that we have what we need, etc. etc. etc. Lots of the other groups had grouchy old women, but I liked Beth. She was short and doughy and funny. She was warm, if that makes sense. Warm like when your mom makes you cookies, or gives you a hug on the couch next to the fire.

"Thank you," Beth said, letting her hands fall down to her sides. "Now, this is Abby, she's going to be staying with us until Doctor Jennings says she can leave. Be nice."

I could see that Beth was tired, so I didn't bother asking her any questions as she hurried out of the room. I stood up and walked over to Abby, who was about a foot shorter that I was. She looked up at me and she was still smiling that smile.

"I'm Daniel," I said, and she nodded.

"I'm Abaddon," she had a floaty voice. "Where do I put my things?"

"Just put them on the floor, I'll show you your room in a bit. Come meet the others."

I turned around to see them all staring at us except for Loki, who was furiously tapping the remote.

"Guys, this is Abaddon," they nodded. Loki started mumbling.

Monika stared her up and down, taking a sip of her tea then pushing her fringe back as it started flopping over her forehead. "What you here for?"

Abaddon didn't flinch, like most of the other new people did. "They think I'm crazy because I believe in something important."

Monica and I waited for her to explain, but she didn't so I told her who was who.

"That's Monika, she's here because she keeps threatening to kill herself," Monika made a point with her first two fingers, pressed them to her forehead, then flicked them out in a salute. "That's Ethan, he's got paranoia," Ethan nodded, then glanced across at Loki and continued to pick at the thread. "That's Loki," Loki suddenly started cackling and turned her head to look at Abaddon.

"I hear voices but they're not bad voices so I don't see the problem," she was laughing uncontrollably and her head kept twisting to the left.

She slowly went back to the TV and there was a moment of silence. I continued. "Yeah so anyway. That's Gabriel and he's here because he's been an alcoholic since he was fifteen," Gabriel did nothing but raise a single eyebrow, then turned another page in his magazine. "And that's everyone."

She nodded and smiled at everyone in turn. "So why are you here?"

I sucked in my breath. It was all very well for the others telling people why they were at Henderson's; they had things that weren't exactly gender specific. But I guess my high level of insecurity just screwed things up for me. "I'm anorexic."

Usually the new patients laughed at me when I said that. But she just nodded, her smile never faltering. I wondered what she believed in and how it was so bad that she got dumped here. She didn't seem mentally instable, just sort of vacant. Then again, that's typical of most teenagers, and especially pretty girls like her straight out of high school.

Monika patted the space on the couch next to her. "Sit."

Abaddon nodded at me and walked over to take a seat. Monika adjusted herself so she was facing Abaddon, her knees like a rickety table and her feet on the couch. "You're not from here, are you?"

Abaddon shook her head. "No, I'm from Fiskerton?"

Monica shrugged. "I don't know where that is."

I walked back to my arm chair next to the couch at Abaddon's end and beside Ethan's chair as Abaddon laughed. "No one ever does – it's a little village near Southwell, on the edges of Nottinghamshire."

"I still don't know where that is," Monika just sipped her tea. "I'm from around here."

"It seems lovely," Abaddon cocked her head with genuine interest.

I started scrolling through tumblr again as they started talking about school and subjects and moose and other stuff until I wasn't concentrating anymore and before I knew it Beth was back and calling us for examination.

"Alright guys, up you get," she said as she walked in, still pulling on her gloves. "Who's first?"

Examination happens every day at 11:30 am, right after the morning break and before Group Session at 12:00 pm. It's mainly to make sure none of us have drugs or whatever in our systems, or that we've stopped harming, or that we're a healthy weight. That's the real reason but they say the main cause is to see if we're sick or dying from infection or something like that I don't like to ask.

I hopped up on the bed in the medical room of our house. Beth knelt down and pulled the measuring tape out of her pocket. I looked out of the window as she wound it around my ankle, paused, then sighed and put her hands on her thighs.

"Are you even trying, Daniel?"

I looked down at her, and she didn't look upset or disappointed. She looked tired. Like she was worn down by how many times I had gone backwards.

"Of course I am," I said, and I wasn't lying. I really was trying, because I hated letting her down like that and I hated hating myself all the time and I hated feeling like shit about myself so yeah, I was trying. "You know I am."

She put her thumb and fingers to grip the bridge of her nose and stood up. "Okay, up on the scales."

I took a deep breath before stepping onto them. Beth and I had an agreement that she didn't tell me how much they said. In fact, she didn't tell me any of the measurements, she only ever commented if it was really bad or really good. That way I never had to face the disappointment of seeing the number that little hand was pointing to.

I got down and took my pants and shirt off. I remembered how scared I was the first time I had to do it, and how shocked and embarrassed I was. I thought about how Abaddon would react and smiled. Then I started laughing because I could see how it would come across to her. I reckon the girls and the anorexics have a worse time than anyone else.

Beth looked at me as she stood on tiptoes to see how tall I was against the measuring scale son the wall. "What?"

"Nothing," she was starting to smile now. "Can you imagine the look on Abaddon's face when she comes in here and you ask her to take her clothes off?"

She rolled her eyes, but she was laughing. "The different reactions to that are the main reason I chose to work at this place."

"I never really thought about it."

"You know one time," she started laughing hysterically, and the creases next to her eyes got deeper. "This kid thought I was some sort of predator, so she slapped me and made a break for it."

I started laughing harder and it was nice to have that moment, because we barely had any of them unless Loki hadn't taken her meds and she was lying on her back.

I left the room and headed out the door, turning left and heading up to the group session room at the end of the hallway.


End file.
